Spring seat-post



No. 626,396. Patented lune 6, |899. J. N. SMITH.

SPRING SEAT POST.

(Application flied June 23, 1897,|

No Model.)

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UNITED `STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH N. SMITH, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

SPRING SEAT-POST.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 626,396, dated June 6,'1899.

Application filed June 23,1897. Serial No. 641,970. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH N. SMITH, acitizen of the United States,residing at Detroit, in. the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, havemade a new and useful Invention in Supports or Posts for Bicycle-Seats,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates 'particularly to improvements in yielding supportsor posts for bicycle seats or saddles; and its objects are, first, tominimize as far as possible the amount of friction which ordinarilyoccurs in the use of this type of seat or saddle supports; second, toprovide a seat support or post of the type named which shall be soconstructed as to avoid lateral swinging or side movements of the saddleor seat when in use and also in which an adjustment may be effectedinsuch manner as to compensate'for any lateral wear due to the movementsof the parts; third, to devise a seat support or post of the type namedin which the parts may be readily put together and taken apart, and,fourth, to provide a detachable arm for a seat support or post, whichmay be reversed or applied thereto either in the front or rear to suitthe convenience of the rider.

These severa-l objects are accomplished by my improvement, which will befully understood by referring to the accompanyin g drawings and to thefollowing specification, the especial points of novelty beingparticularly point-ed out in the claims at the end of thisspecification.

Figure l represents a vertical sectional view of a spring-supportedseat-post provided with my improvements and illustrates also in dottedlines the usual manner of Vattaching it to the seatsupporting tube of abicycle-frame. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken through Fig.l on the line x on, one of the cylindrical friction-rollers being shownin plan view. Fig. 3 is avertical sectional view taken through a part ofthe body of the support on aplane at right angles from the sectionalView illustrated in Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a perspective `view of one of thecheek-plates and integral semirectangular guideways for the rectangularportion of the post. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on theline fy y, Fig, l. Fig. 6 is a plan View of the detachable arm orsupport for the seat or saddle.

In. a prior application filed by me in the United States Patent Officeon the 10th day of October, 1896, and bearing Serial No. 609,060, I havedescribed and claimed a seat post or support in which the upper portionof the support is of rectangular form and adapted to move through arectangular collar .or guideway, the lower portion of said post being ofcylindrical form and adapted to move through a cylindrical collar orguide- Way, a spiral spring being provided for yieldingly maintainingthe weight ot' the rider, in combination with a cylindrical rollersustained above the guideway and adapted to bear against the rear faceof the rectangular part, all of said parts being held together by asurrounding or inclosing tube. In that application I have fullydisclaimed the prior state of the art, and the present invention isdirected to improvements upon the invention disclosed in the aforesaidapplication.

I will now describe my present improvement, reference being had to thedrawings in detail, in all of which like letters of reference representlike parts wherever used.

A represents in dotted lines the saddle or seat post sustaining tube andthe adjacent parts of a bicycle-frame, and B a short metallic tube orcase adapted to telescope therein and be supported thereby, asbicycle-posts are usually supported, through a clamping bolt at the rearof the frame.

C represents the seat-post, constructed in this instance of two parts,the upper part b being of rectangular cross-section and preferably ofhardened steel and the lower part c of cylindrical form, its upper endbeing secured in an opening in the part b, said parts being heldtogether by screw-threads or a lockingpin or in any preferred manner.

g is a leather washer, 'and f a metal washer, said washers being held inposition between the two parts of the seat-post by a shoulder d near theupper end of the part c.

D is a ring or collar provided with an axial opening of sufficientdiameter to act as a guideway for the lower cylindrical part c of thepost, said ring or collar being provided with exterior screw-threadsadapted to enter IOO corresponding screw-threads at the lower end of thetube or casing B.

E is a spiral spring surrounding the part c, its opposite ends resting,respectively, against the metal washer f and the guideway or collar D.

G G are two cheek-plates provided with ears i i t and downwardlyextending integral semirectangular guideways jj, said plates being alsoprovided with laterally-extending shoulders m m, as clearly shown inFig. 3 of the drawings, the arrangement of these parts .being such thatwhen they are lplaced in poone end and screw-threaded at the other, so

as to enter corresponding threads in screwholes in the eheek-plates,said bolts being provided also with detachable set-nuts o o. It will beseen on inspection of Fig. 2 of the drawings that these cylindricalrollers F F are of less length than any one of the sides of therectangular part b in order to prevent any binding action o f thecheek-plates upon the ends of the rollers as they are adjusted from timeto time.

' H represents adetachable arm or support fork the saddle, said armbeing bent, as clearly illustrated in Fig. l, so as to lie substantiallyin a horizontal plane and sustain the seat of the rider on a level withthe top tube of the bicycle-frame, as shown in dotted lines. Thesupporting portion r of this arm is provided with a cylindrical openingadapted to fit the correspondin g cylindrical portion p at the top ofthe rectangular portion of the seat-post and is also provided onopposite sides with corresponding rectangular openings or shoulders s s,adapted to fit the rectangular portion thereof, as clearly shown in Fig.l, the arrangement being such that the arm may be applied to the upperend of the seat-post at any one o-f the four sides and also so that itmay be reversed in its angular position, so as to adapt it forl use inthe rear thereof,.differ ent riders often requiring different relativepositions, as is well understood by those skilled in the art.

t is a nuty designed to secure the arm firmly in position after it hasbeen properly located. This feature of adapting the arm H to be appliedto any one of the four sides of the rectangular portion of the seat-postis important for that it enables one to change the relative positions ofsaid seat-post, the cheek-plates, and friction-rollers as may be desiredfrom time to time should any undue wear come upon said parts.

In constructing my novel seat-postI iirst place the two semirectangularguideways j j in position within the upper end of the tube B in themanner shown in Fig. 3, so that the shoulders m m rest upon the top ofthe tube B at the point-s n. I then turn inward with a hammer 4orotherwise the front and rear edges Z of the tube over the correspondingfront and rear edges 7c of the rectangular portionj of the guideway.(See Fig. l.) I then secure the friction-rollers F F in position byinserting the bolts h h therethrough. The two parts b c of the seat-postare now secured together, with the leather and metal washers g andfinposition, and the rectangular portion of the seat-post is inserted frombelow through the rectangular guideway already described. The spiralspring E is now put in place and the lower guideway or collar D passedover the lower end of the cylindrical part c and secured in the lowerend of the tube B at such position as will give the desired supportaccording to the weight of the rider using it. The arm I-I is now put inplace and secured by the nut t. The bolts h hare turned until thedesired pressure is obtained between the cheek-plates and the lateralfaces of the rectangular part b, after which the setnuts o o are rmlysecured. By providing two cylindrical friction-rollers F F' for thefront and rear sides of the rectangular portion b I am enabled tominimize the friction and also provide a means whereby the entire postmay be reversed, so that the frictionroller F' may take the place of Fshould the latter become unduly worn by reason of the weight that thispart is called upon to carry, and by providing adjustable cheek-plates GG I am enabled to compensate for any wear due to lateralmovements Vofthe saddleka feature which is found to be very prevalent with allbicycle-saddles by reason of the alternate movements of the legs of therider. After the proper adjustments have been made to adapt the post tothe weight of th'e particular'rider who desires to use it the severalparts are properly oiled and the post is secured in the manner indicatedin Fig. l of the drawings.

I am aware that spring-supported seat-posts have heretofore been.provided with means for preventing the movement of the saddle from sideto side under the swinging motion of the rider, such a device beingshown and described in United States Patent to Holland, No. 567,314,granted September 8, 1896; but I am not aware that any one hasheretofore applied means directly to the seat-post itself forcompensating for the wear thereof and in such manner as to absolutelyprevent lateral movement, and my claims in this particular are to beconstrued as of the most generic nature.

I am also aware that it is not new with me to provide a bicycleseat-post with a detachable arm, and I make no claim hereinafter broadenough to include such a structure, my most generic claim in thisparticularly being directed to a detachable arm provided with means forpreventing it from twisting or turning under the weight and movement ofthe rider, the specific means herein shown IOO IIO

for this purpose being the rectangular openings or shoulders s, adaptedto fit the correspondi ng rectangular portion of the seat-post.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-- l. A rectangular-shapedseat-post provided with two gnideways and yielding means of support, incombination with cylindrical friction-rollers journaled upon bolts, saidbolts havin g nuts and heads adapted to bear against the outer faces ofthe guideways, so as to compensate for wear between the seat-post andthe guideways, substantially as described.

2. A seat-post composed of a tubular casing, two gudeways securedthereto, a post one part of which is of rectangular cross-sec tion, aspring adapted to sustain said post within the casing, two cheek-platesintegral with the guideways and provided with means for clamping themupon opposite faces of the rectangular portion, and two friction-rollerssustained between said cheek-plates and adapted to bear upontheremaining faces of the rectangular portion, substantially as described.

3. A seat-post composed of a tubular casing, a rectangular spri11g-supported post and two guideways therefor secured within the casing,one of said guideways beingcomposed of two semirectangular parts havingintegral cheek-plates, in combination with cylindrical friction-rollerssecured between said cheekplates, substantially as described.

4. A seat-post of rectangular cross-section having its upper end ofcylindrical cross-section, in combination with a detachable arm having acylindrical opening and rectangular shoulders or openings adapted to tthe rectangular portion of the post, together with means for securing itthereto, substantially as described.

5. A rectangular-shaped seat-postprovided with a cylindrical portion pat its upper end, in combination with a detachable arm H having acorresponding cylindrical opening and rectangular-shaped openings orshoulders s s adapted to fit the rectangular-shaped portion of theseat-post proper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH N. SMITH.

Witnesses:

M. B. ODOGHERTY, OTTO F. BARTHEL.

